The Papuan languages of the islands east of mainland Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarcks, Bougainville, Solomons, and Louisiade Archipelago,...
GMAT Multi Source Reasoning : (MSR) Questions
The Papuan languages of the islands east of mainland Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarcks, Bougainville, Solomons, and Louisiade Archipelago, have almost no detectable similarities in vocabulary. In contrast to neighboring Austronesian languages, linguistic analysis of these Papuan languages done by comparison of vocabularies cannot determine their historical relationships. We thus have reason to believe that ancient Papuans arrived on the islands longer than 5,000 or 7,000 years ago, where the various groups have lived in relative isolation from one another.
On the basis of the fact that grammar changes more slowly than vocabulary, researchers developed a new method of discerning relationships, including historical relationships, on the basis of grammatical similarities. Applying this method to the Papuan languages, the researchers found, as expected, that the relationships correlated with the islands and archipelagos on which the languages occur.
One interesting result was this. Although Bougainville lies between the Solomon Islands and the Bismarcks, the languages of the Solomons grammatically fell in between those of the Bismarcks and Bougainville. The researchers hypothesize that this discrepancy arose because, ten thousand years ago, Bougainville and the Solomons were joined in a single land mass, facilitating migration, while the Bismarcks were separate.
For each of the following statements about the Papuan languages of the Louisiade Archipelago and the Solomons, select Yes if the statement is strongly suggested by the discussion and research results pertaining to the Papuan languages. Otherwise, select No.
OWNING THE DATASET
Understanding Source A: Text - Discussion of Papuan Language Research
| Information from Dataset | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The Papuan languages of the islands east of mainland Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarcks, Bougainville, Solomons, and Louisiade Archipelago, have almost no detectable similarities in vocabulary" |
|
| "We thus have reason to believe that ancient Papuans arrived on the islands longer than 5,000 or 7,000 years ago, where the various groups have lived in relative isolation from one another" |
|
| "researchers developed a new method of discerning relationships, including historical relationships, on the basis of grammatical similarities" |
|
| "the relationships correlated with the islands and archipelagos on which the languages occur" |
|
| "Although Bougainville lies between the Solomon Islands and the Bismarcks, the languages of the Solomons grammatically fell in between those of the Bismarcks and Bougainville" |
|
| "The researchers hypothesize that this discrepancy arose because, ten thousand years ago, Bougainville and the Solomons were joined in a single land mass, facilitating migration, while the Bismarcks were separate" |
|
Summary: Researchers discovered that Papuan island languages show no vocabulary similarities due to ancient isolation (over 5,000-7,000 years), but a new grammar-based analysis reveals relationships that mostly match geography, with one notable exception explained by a hypothesized ancient land connection 10,000 years ago.
Understanding Source B: Chart - Language Tree Diagram
Chart Analysis:
- What it shows: A tree diagram displaying grammatical relationships between Papuan languages
- Key patterns observed:
- Two distinct color clusters: orange (includes Yeli Dnye, Savosavo, Rotokas, Buin, Nasioi, Motuna) and blue/teal (includes Touo, Bilua, Central Solomons, Lavukaleve, Kuot, Mali, Ata, Anêm, Sulka, Kol)
- Central Solomons appears as a central node with multiple connections
- Languages are grouped by color according to their island/archipelago origin
- Distances between nodes are rough indicators of grammatical distance
- Linkage to Source A: The clear separation between orange and blue/teal clusters visually confirms the long-term isolation between island groups mentioned in Source A
- Inference: Position on the diagram indicates grammatical similarity - languages positioned between others share features with both
- Linkage to Source A: This diagram directly illustrates the "grammatical similarities" method described in the text, showing how researchers mapped language relationships
- Linkage to Source A: The Central Solomons' position between other language groups visually confirms the text's description of Solomon languages being "grammatically intermediate" between Bismarck and Bougainville languages
- Linkage to Source A: The orange cluster in the tree diagram appears to represent languages from a single geographic area, likely Bougainville or Louisiade based on the grouping patterns
Summary: The language tree provides visual confirmation of Source A's findings, with color-coded clusters showing geographic groupings and node positions revealing grammatical relationships, particularly highlighting how Solomon languages occupy an unexpected intermediate position between other island groups.
Understanding Source C: Chart - Migration Map
Map Analysis:
- What it shows: Geographic locations of current Papuan language speakers (red dots) across island chains east of Papua New Guinea, with a dotted line showing a hypothetical ancient migration route
- Key features observed:
- Red dots mark language locations across various islands
- Dotted migration route originates from Papua New Guinea and moves through island chains
- Map shows major water bodies: Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Solomon Sea, Coral Sea, Bismarck Sea
- Scale shows 0-100 miles
- Inference: The proposed migration path suggests ancient peoples moved from Papua New Guinea eastward through the island chains
- Linkage to Source A: This migration route directly illustrates the "ten thousand years ago" land connection hypothesis, showing how ancient Papuans could have migrated when Bougainville and Solomons were connected
- Linkage to Source A: The map provides geographic context for the "ancient Papuans arrived on the islands longer than 5,000 or 7,000 years ago" statement
- Linkage to Source B: The migration path roughly follows the branching patterns visible in the language tree, suggesting settlement order influenced the grammatical relationships shown in the diagram
Summary: The migration map synthesizes insights from both previous sources by showing how ancient land connections and migration patterns from Papua New Guinea could explain both the grammatical relationships in the language tree and the unexpected Solomon Islands linguistic position described in the research discussion.
Overall Summary
- The three sources tell a coherent story about Papuan island languages: ancient peoples migrated from Papua New Guinea over 5,000-7,000 years ago when different land connections existed, creating isolated language groups with no vocabulary similarities.
- Grammar-based analysis reveals hidden historical relationships that mostly match current geography, except for Solomon Islands languages, which show an intermediate grammatical position explained by ancient land connections 10,000 years ago.
- The language tree diagram and migration map provide visual evidence supporting this historical reconstruction, demonstrating how ancient geography shaped modern language patterns across the Pacific islands.
- Geographic isolation created distinct language clusters still visible today, while ancient land connections left grammatical traces that contradict current geography.
Question Analysis
The analysis examines Papuan languages of islands east of Papua New Guinea, focusing on three main aspects: vocabulary similarities, grammatical relationships, and evolutionary timelines. The evaluation uses multiple sources including linguistic discussions, grammatical relationship trees, and migration maps to assess three specific statements about Louisiade and Solomon language groups.
Source Analysis
Source A (Discussion)
Source A provides key information about Papuan languages of islands east of Papua New Guinea, including Louisiade Archipelago and Solomons. The source states these languages have "almost no detectable similarities in vocabulary" and that vocabulary comparison cannot determine historical relationships, unlike neighboring Austronesian languages. Researchers used grammatical analysis since grammar changes more slowly than vocabulary. Ancient Papuans arrived 5,000-7,000+ years ago and lived in relative isolation.
Source B (Language Tree)
Source B shows grammatical relationships between languages, with distances between nodes indicating grammatical distance. Colors represent different archipelagos. The tree reveals significant grammatical separation between Louisiade languages (Yélî Dnye, Savosavo) and Solomon languages (Touo, Bilua, Lavukaleve, etc.).
Source C (Migration Map)
Source C displays geographical locations and suggests migration routes from Papua New Guinea mainland to the islands, showing Jabem and Gapapalwa located on/near the mainland.
Information Integration
The sources work together to demonstrate that:
- Papuan languages are highly divergent due to long isolation
- Grammatical analysis reveals relationships that vocabulary cannot
- Migration occurred from mainland Papua New Guinea to the islands
Individual Statement Evaluations
Statement 1 Evaluation
"The two groups are more different from one another in their grammatical features than some groups of neighboring Austronesian languages are."
- Source A explicitly contrasts Papuan languages with "neighboring Austronesian languages," noting that vocabulary analysis works for Austronesian but not Papuan languages
- This contrast implies greater divergence among Papuan languages compared to Austronesian languages
- Source B shows substantial grammatical distance between Louisiade and Solomon languages in the relationship tree
- The evidence supports greater grammatical differences between the Papuan language groups
- Conclusion: YES
Statement 2 Evaluation
"They have few words, if any, determined by the researchers to be the same as words of the others."
- Source A directly states: "The Papuan languages of the islands east of mainland Papua New Guinea, including the Bismarcks, Bougainville, Solomons, and Louisiade Archipelago, have almost no detectable similarities in vocabulary"
- This statement explicitly supports the claim about minimal vocabulary similarities between Louisiade and Solomon languages
- The evidence directly confirms the lack of shared vocabulary
- Conclusion: YES
Statement 3 Evaluation
"They evolved more recently than did Jabem or Gapapalwa, spoken on Papua New Guinea."
- Source C shows Jabem and Gapapalwa located on or near Papua New Guinea mainland
- Source A indicates ancient Papuans arrived on islands 5,000-7,000+ years ago and lived in "relative isolation"
- Migration from mainland to islands does not necessarily indicate more recent language evolution
- Long isolation period (5,000-7,000+ years) suggests significant independent evolution time
- No strong evidence supports more recent evolution of island languages compared to mainland languages
- Conclusion: NO
Systematic Checking
The comprehensive analysis across all sources reveals strong evidence supporting the first two statements while the third statement lacks sufficient supporting evidence. The long isolation timeline mentioned in the sources contradicts the notion of more recent evolution for island languages.
Final Answer
- Statement 1: YES
- Statement 2: YES
- Statement 3: NO
The two groups are more different from one another in their grammatical features than some groups of neighboring Austronesian languages are.
They have few words, if any, determined by the researchers to be the same as words of the others.
They evolved more recently than did Jabem or Gapapalwa, spoken on Papua New Guinea.